A woman in Wales has been ordered to pay £10,000 (approximately $12,700 USD) in damages for a four-year catfishing campaign that targeted a teenager, using her identity and AI-generated content to create fake online profiles. Elha-Mai Weston, who lives near the victim, Sasha Davies, both 19, employed Ms. Davies's social media photos to impersonate her on platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and Tinder.
Weston began creating fake profiles under the names 'Sophie' and 'Sophie Kildare' when both women were 16. These accounts, which accumulated over 100,000 followers, remained active for four years. Ms. Davies, a student, became aware of the impersonation in 2022 after noticing a TikTok account using her images. Despite reporting the issue to South Wales Police and making her own profiles private, the fake accounts continued to proliferate.
The impersonation led to Ms. Davies being approached by men who believed they were in a romantic relationship with her. Some confronted her at her workplace or in public, adamant that she was the person they had been interacting with online. Ms. Davies recounted an incident in September 2025 where a group of young men approached her at an event in Swansea, insisting she was 'Sophie' and showing her messages from the fake account, which had even used a photo of Ms. Davies and her friends posted earlier that night on her private social media.
Ms. Davies and her family repeatedly contacted the police between 2022 and the present, expressing concerns about the ongoing identity theft and its impact on her mental health and relationships. The victim reported feeling ostracized and distressed, stating, "Everybody thought it was me. Nobody trusted it wasn't me. My mental health was bad. I remember crying to my mother and saying, 'I just can't go through this'. I felt like there was no help or support at all."
Feeling that the police investigation was insufficient, Ms. Davies took matters into her own hands. She gathered evidence, including tracking down a SoundCloud profile linked to 'Sophie Kildare' which led her to other fake accounts. These accounts were ultimately linked to Elha-Mai Weston. Ms. Davies discovered Weston lived only a short distance away, contrary to her initial assumption that the perpetrator was far away.
Ms. Davies then contacted Cohen Davis Solicitors, providing a substantial bundle of screenshots. Her legal team, led by Yair Cohen, utilized open-source intelligence to confirm Weston's identity. High Court proceedings were initiated, and Weston, through her lawyers, admitted to the sustained campaign of online impersonation and issued an apology. The case concluded this week with the £10,000 settlement.
Weston cited mental health issues as a reason for her actions. Ms. Davies expressed a desire to understand Weston's motivations, stating, "I want to know why she chose me. There are so many pretty girls in my area, why did she do it to me?" She believes jealousy may have been a factor but also expressed feeling threatened.
Ms. Davies is pursuing criminal proceedings, and South Wales Police have confirmed an ongoing investigation into identity theft in the Mountain Ash area. A police spokesperson stated, "We recognise this type of identity theft can have a very serious impact on its victims. Wherever there is evidence of criminality we will always seek to take robust action and prosecute perpetrators."
Ms. Davies's solicitor, Yair Cohen, commented on the challenges faced by his client and the perceived inadequacy of initial police responses, stating, "For four years she had been impersonated online, and hardly anyone believed her... She had been left completely alone with it." He questioned the effectiveness of current online safety laws in protecting victims of identity theft.